Steve’s Weblog

I started keeping a log of the stuff we did on this trip, and will edit and post as I have time. Since we didn’t have internet access on this trip, I just kept a off-line journal of the stuff we did.

We left Austin at around 6:00 PM on Wednesday, and arrived into LA at 7:30 PM local time. Our next flight out to Sydney wasn’t until 10:30 PM, so since we have Platinum status with AA, and we’re on an international flight, we hung out in the Admiral’s Club lounge for a couple hours. (Free munchies and soda and a TV lounge) They let both of us have a guest, so we were able to get Nhut’s mom and sister in too when they arrived.

The flight from LA to Sydney was 14 hours long, in coach. We got in to Sydney at 6 AM Friday morning, took about an hour and a half to clear customs, gather our bags and get out on the road back to Canberra with Nhut’s uncle. On the drive back to the house, we stopped off at a McDonalds for a bathroom break. Seems that McDonalds here has opened a McCafe in a bunch of their restaurants in Australia. Its basically a Starbucks like coffee outlet in each of their restaurants. Anyway, it looked pretty popular the morning we were there.

We hung out for a bit at Nhut’s Uncle’s house for a while, catching up with his cousins and aunt too and then napped before dinner. Dinner was good; we had asparagus with smoked salmon and polenta appetizer, followed by steak and potato wedges for dinner. We has this meringue with berries sort of tart for dessert called pavlova.

to Australia for vacation…

DeLay indicted in campaign finance probe

Charges could force House majority leader to step down

BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2005

WASHINGTON – A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.

MSNBC

Military rep: Gays are being sent to war

Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network Tue Sep 27, 8:21 PM ET

SUMMARY: A military spokesperson has reportedly admitted that openly gay and lesbian troops are being sent into combat, despite the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

A military spokesperson has reportedly admitted that openly gay and lesbian troops are being sent into combat in
Iraq, despite the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on homosexual soldiers.

Kim Waldron, of the U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, told the Washington Blade newspaper: “The bottom line is some people are using sexual orientation to avoid deployment. So in this case, with the Reserve and Guard forces, if a soldier ‘tells,’ they still have to go to war and the homosexual issue is postponed until they return to the U.S. and the unit is demobilized.”

Waldon’s comments confirmed the suspicions of Aaron Belkin, director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM). Belkin noted that before Waldron’s acknowledgment, representatives often denied that the military intentionally sends gays and lesbians to fight despite the existence of a gay ban.

“The military has claimed for years that allowing openly gay and lesbian service members to serve in uniform would undermine unit cohesion. During wartime, however, when cohesion is most important, the Pentagon retains gays and lesbians,” Belkin said.

Yahoo News

Well, I missed registering for the draft because it wasn’t required when I turned 18 in 1977, and so it goes…

It kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it? I mean, Bush is out of town for a tropical depression hurricane… almost as though he were afraid of confronting the anti-war protesters. Maybe he’s just trying to shore up his image, you know, making reparations for ignoring the storm victims of Katrina by overdoing it on Rita. Hint: go a little further EAST.

Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets

Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq

By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page A01

Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation’s capital since the conflict in Iraq began.

The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in tie-dye. It was the first time in a decade that protest groups had a permit to march in front of the executive mansion, and, even though President Bush was not there, the setting seemed to electrify the crowd.

Washington Post

Perry: Rita Damage Not As Bad As Katrina

By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

BEAUMONT, Texas – Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday that the damage inflicted by Hurricane Rita paled in comparison to Katrina, but urged evacuees stay where they are until local officials say it’s all right to return.

Yahoo News

Oh, wait… that was the last Hurricane. This time he’s actually on the scene, well, err… sorta. I mean he was here in Austin today, even though we totally escaped the impact of the storm. Heck it was sunny, hot and breezy here, a typical Austin day. Maybe he came here for the ACL Festival? Or was it that maybe he was comparing hair products with Governor GoodHair Perry?

So, while he was “out”, the protest went on in Washington. Think he’ll get the message?

Antiwar Protests Commence in Washington

By Miranda S. Spivack
and Petula Dvorak Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 24, 2005; 6:18 PM

Thousands of protesters against the war in Iraq rallied today in Washington and other U.S. and European cities to demand the return of U.S. troops in what organizers hope will be the largest gathering since the war began more than two years ago.

Protest organizers estimated a crowd of about 200,000 rallied at the Ellipse, then marched around the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue.

Bush’s Crisis Itinerary at Mercy of Weather, Even Nice Weather

By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: September 24, 2005

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 23 – President Bush was supposed to land here on Friday afternoon on the first stop of a tour intended to make clear that he was personally overseeing the federal government’s preparations for Hurricane Rita’s landfall. But the weather did not cooperate.

It was too sunny.

But clearly someone at the White House reconsidered the President’s impact. When Mr. McClellan announced that the president had scrapped his trip, he said that with the search-and-rescue team preparing to move with the storm, “we didn’t want to slow that down.”

In other words, the Preznit didn’t want to GET IN THE WAY?

Another White House official involved in preparing Mr. Bush’s way noted that with the sun shining so brightly in San Antonio, the images of Mr. Bush from here might not have made it clear to viewers that he was dealing with an approaching storm.
NY Times

Prosecutors, SEC Probe Frist Stock Sale

By JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 23, 4:52 PM ET

WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s sale of stock in HCA Inc. at a time when insiders at the hospital operating company were also selling off shares.

HCA, based in Nashville and founded by the Frist family, said Friday that it had received a subpoena from prosecutors for the Southern District of New York, asking for documents the company believes are related to Frist’s stock sale.

Prosecutors also have contacted the senator’s office, Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said. He said neither the senator nor his office had received a subpoena.

Frist, a Tennessee Republican, has been considered a potential presidential candidate in 2008. Aides say he sold his stock to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

Yahoo News

Wonder if he’ll get the same treatment as Martha Stewart?

Washington Post too…

Up to 20 Dead in Fire Aboard Evacuees’ Bus

7 minutes ago

WILMER, Texas – A bus carrying elderly evacuees from Hurricane Rita caught fire early Friday on a gridlocked highway near Dallas, killing as many as 20 people, authorities said.

“We believe it’s going to be closer to 20 fatalities,” Dallas County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz said.

Yahoo News

Rita Sparks Exodus From Texas, La. Coasts

By MIKE GRACZYK, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago

HOUSTON – Hurricane Rita roared toward the Texas and Louisiana coasts early Friday, a major Category 4 storm that spurred a traffic-snarled exodus toward higher ground and fears it could cripple the heart of the nation’s petrochemical industry.

Forecasters said it appeared Houston and Galveston could avoid a direct hit as Rita veered slightly to the east, threatening its 140 mph winds at the Beaumont and Port Arthur area about 75 miles east of Houston. An 8 a.m. EDT advisory from the
National Hurricane Center said the winds remained at 140 mph.

The unprecedented flight from the flood-prone Houston area left clogged highways at a near standstill, frustrating hundreds of thousands of people whose cars and tempers were overheating.

“It can’t get much worse, 100 yards an hour,” steamed Willie Bayer, 70, who was trying to get to Sulphur Springs in far northeast Texas. “It’s frustrating bumper-to-bumper.”

Yahoo News

Traffic in Austin last night when I arrived at the airport around 10:00 PM was unusually high. (the plane from Chicago was completely full too) As I was driving northbound on 183 towards home, there were flashing signs telling motorists to listen to AM 590 radio for updates, and the Amber alert system lights were directing people to shelters on NB 183. The radio announcer was saying, at that time, last night, that the shelters in Cedar Park were full… and they were sending evacuees further north to Leander.

Map of
Leander, TX

Looks like we’ll be getting some rain and high winds even as far inland as Austin this weekend. So, we’re planning to secure all the stuff on the deck, just to be sure.

Texas Coast Braces For Rita
1.1 Million Ordered To Evacuate Homes

By Ceci Connolly and Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 22, 2005; Page A01

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 21 — Hurricane Rita, a massive storm packing 165-mph winds and destructive force equal to the might of Hurricane Katrina, tracked through the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders for more than 1.1 million Texans and the few remaining holdouts in storm-ravaged New Orleans.

Washington Post.

Closer to home, the Austin American Statesman has an article on the possible impact to Austin:

Hurricanes threaten inland residents, too

Flooding, tornadoes may not come with Rita, but both sometimes spin out of coastal storms.
By Stephen Scheibal
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, September 22, 2005

About 150 miles separates Austin from the Gulf of Mexico.

The distance becomes awfully slight during a hurricane.

Some of the worst storms to ever hit Central Texas spun out of hurricanes and tropical storms that made landfall far away.

The remnants of storms can swamp the region with moisture and create a vacuum that attracts more rain clouds, said Raymond Slade Jr., a hydrologist and former Texas surface water specialist for the United States Geological Survey.

“If you have a Category 5 hurricane hit the Texas coast, it could still be a strong hurricane and reach Austin,” Slade said.

Statesman.com